jeriendhal | Bounce! Bounce! Bounce!

So last week Tracy bought a moon bounce for Thomas. Admittedly it was $150, but on the other hand it's cheaper than renting one for Tom's birthday party, or the fee to reserve a pavilion at the park. We figure we'll have the party at his Aunt Millie & Mary's place this year anyway. Anyway, this weekend was the first chance I had to set it up so Tom could take it for a test drive.

The inflatable structure was folded into a 2 ft. x 18 inch package, which I thought was promising for storage purposes, but then it also came with a storage back that was about twice the size of a seaman's duffle, which should have made me suspicious. Set up was quite simple. I just had to attach the umbilical to the fan, secure the deflation valve, and let her rip. After it was inflated I staked it down, and let Tom have at it.

2 1/2 hours later I finally dragged him inside with considerable protest, as it was starting to get chilly. Needless to say he loved it, bouncing inside with the other neighborhood children that came by, and running around the thing. It has a small footprint, about 8' x 8', so it fit into the scrap of public land in front of our house quite easily (the backyard was out of the question.) The fan was no lounder than a vaccuum cleaner, and the whole structure held up well to three kids of various sizes carreening about in it.

The only problem came when breaking it down, as trying to make sure the moon bounce was completely deflated and properly folded and stuffed into it's storage sack is really a two person job, but I managed it. The important thing is that Tom loves it, and it'll give him more of a chance to interact with the other nieghborhood kids during the summer.